Metal, Glass, & Crystal
by CannedCream
Summary: Short Story. On a routine stop at the Citadel Tali sneaks away to find the perfect gift for Shepard, but ends up getting more than she bargained for.


**Metal, Glass, & Crystal**

As impossible as it sounded, even to her own hears, Tali's life over the past few days had become almost pure bliss. She had found a home upon a fine ship with a good crew. The cause she fought for was a noble one and, perhaps most importantly, she had found the love of a good man. Was there really anything more a young woman could want?

Shepard had always been kind to her even long before they had grown intimate. He had been a truer friend then she had ever known; saving her life countless times, defending her from exile, trusting her to watch his back, and best of all; seeing her beyond the mask. Even during the days when Shepard had first brought her aboard the SSV Normandy, when Tali still wasn't quite sure what to think of the commander, she had still been under the impression that this was a man who actually wanted to see past the suit, who understood that there was an actual living creature behind the metal and glass. Tali was ashamed at how long it took her to accept this as truth. To her, the idea that anyone outside of another quarian wanting such a thing seemed near impossible. Then again, Shepard turned out to be an impossible man.

They were still in the early stages of their romance; a time when everything was fresh and new and exciting. While they still remained professional when needed, it touched Tali's heart to find that Shepard made no secret of their relationship. She was not the first quarian to date outside of her species, obviously. Once upon a time when her kind were making their very first steps into the galactic melting pot, such a thing was heavily frowned upon, but a mixture of time and younger generations had removed such ideas, as they often do, and dating outside of one's own species was no longer this unthinkable taboo.

Then, came the Geth, their removal from the citadel, and the universe wide sigma placed against her people that still held strong today. Even before all of this, one was hard pressed to find someone who was willing to accept a quarian as a mate because of the lack of proper physical intimacy. After their exile, it became nearly impossible. Even those who still attempted to pursue such a relationship did so in secrecy as if committing some sort blasphemies sin, and maybe they felt like they were.

Once again it was time that healed at least a little of this wound. Personally, Tali doubted that the quarian people would ever really live down the discredit placed against them for their mistakes, but she supposed there was some comfort to be taken from the fact that there were other species willing to practice open relationships with her people, even if the chances of actually seeing one in public were only slightly better than winning the Galactic Lottery.

Whether it was frowned upon or not, whether it was stigmatized or not, Shepard didn't seem to care. He was there for her, he took care of her, and Tali loved him with all of her heart, so when their ship docked inside the Citadel, Tali knew that she wanted to do something big to show her appreciation for everything Shepard had done.

The reason for the visit was important, but not yet critical. Shepard was to meet with Anderson and Udina about how to best reiterate the gravity of the Reaper threat to the council. It was a necessary action, but one he had confessed he was not looking forward to.

"Would it help if I came along," Tali had asked. "I could verify your story."

Shepard thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. "No, that's not necessary yet. For the time being this is just going to be a private discussion, but when the time comes to actually talk with the council, I think I might need everyone at my side. They're not going to want to believe any of this, but it's crucial that we get them on our side."

"If you need me, just call. I'll be right over."

"Thank you Tali. Wish me luck."

Shepard brought his fingers up to his mouth, kissed the tips, and then gently caressed the side of her mask. Tali mimicked the action to the capacity her suit would allow and rested her hand upon his cheek. It was a silly little act that had become their substitute for affection when they were unable to actually kiss, but despite how awkward it might have seemed, it never failed to make her heart speed up.

Tali gave the man a small wave as he stepped off of the Normandy and out into the wards. When she felt like she had given him enough of a head start that she wouldn't run the risk of being caught, Tali disembarked as well.

Somewhere in this station there would be an item sitting in a shop waiting for her; an item that would perfectly express all of the love, desire, and gratitude she felt for Shepard and as soon as she showed him her gift, he would understand all of the things that she could not find the words to describe.

Her first stop had been to the souvenir shop in Zakera Ward. While she wasn't really expecting to find anything here, Tali supposed it was as good of a place to start as any other. Her doubts, she found, were well placed. What she mostly uncovered was a collection of overpriced junk meant for tourists who didn't know how to handle their money. There was a number of exotic fish, but Shepard already had enough of those. Besides, she was the one who ended up feeding them half of the time, anyway. The store did house a collection of fine model ships; a hobby Shepard had recently picked up, but even if Tali could find one he didn't already own, it was too impersonal of a gift for her purposes.

Upstairs she stepped into the weapon's dealership and began to poke around. Changing her thought process a little, Tali tried looking for something practical rather then sentimental, something he could really use, and experience had told her that Shepard always needed a gun. While she had managed to save up a good deal of credits, everything here that was even halfway decent was far out of her price range.

_Maybe that's for the best,_ she told herself. _It's not quite as romantic for Shepard to use the symbol of your love to kill someone. Cheer up, girl. You'll find something good in the next store._

Except, she didn't. Nor did she find anything in the store after that, or the store after that. For over two hours she had marched in and out of one shop to the next and the end result always came down to one of two things: either the gift wasn't right, or it was far too expensive.

In the time she had been looking, Tali had gone from excited to depressed. In her head she pictured this beautiful scene where that evening she lead Shepard up to his quarters, they had their meals, perhaps even drinks, and then she would produce his gift from wherever she had hidden it in his room earlier that day. He would be so thrilled that he would wrap his arms around her and pull her body close. She would remove the mask, they would kiss, and then Tali would suggest that she certainly wouldn't mind starting the next day with a fever, if he was interested.

Now, however, it seemed like this sweet fantasy was going to turn out to be nothing more than that.

After hours of searching Tali found herself standing outside of the only place left in the ward that she had yet to go into. It was one of those curio stores that always seemed to be popping up all over the place, the kind that sold an assortment of weird and mostly tacky collection of paintings, statuettes, and the like. It was the kind of store that was usually devoid of customers and always closed three months after opening.

_Keelah, am I really so desperate that I'd look in a place like this?_

The movement of her feet towards the store's entrance told her that she was.

The inside of the store was almost exactly like she had expected. The walls were lined with a collection of paintings for sale depicting everything to landscapes and portraits to strange abstracts that, in her opinion, looked like someone accidently dropped a bucket of paint on the canvas. The shelves of the store were filled with all kinds of random decoration items; china plates, statues depicting different religious icons from various species, vases, fountains, and for some odd reason; wind chimes.

_On a space station? Who in the world would need something like that?_

Tali hated to admit defeat, but she had been all over this part of the station and Shepard would be heading back to the Normandy soon, if he wasn't already. It was going to be a long time before she had the opportunity to surprise him with a gift again, but it looked like she was going to have to wait.

She turned around, her shoulders slumped and her head drooped as she started to walk out of the store. She had taken no more then two steps when her eye caught something sitting on the bottom shelf. It was hidden halfway behind a ceramic statue of an asari goddess and if Tali's gaze hadn't been trained downward, she would have missed it all together. Kneeling down, Tali carefully picked up a small box in the shape of a starship made out of blue crystal. It was split into a top and a bottom half with small hinges on the back. Tali opened the lid and was greeting by a miniaturized hologram of the galaxy. A soft and sad tune began to play from inside the ship as entire solar systems seemed to swirl and dance in response, and Tali couldn't help but watch with an almost childlike wonder.

"Find something you like," a voice asked from her left side. Startled, Tali jumped at the sound and nearly lost her grip on the trinket. Another pair of hands shot out to grab the ship if needed, but Tali managed to keep hold.

Tali turned towards the voice coming from the salarian shopkeeper who had unintentionally snuck up on the girl.

"My apologies," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh, no. It's my fault, I wasn't paying attention, I-" Tali cleared her throat and forced herself to stop before she began to ramble. "How much for this," she asked, holding out the trinket.

The young salarian looked at the device and smiled. "Well I'll be, I thought I had sold all of those. What you are holding, my dear, is a hand crafted asari music box. Their craftsmanship is impeccable. I could have sworn that I had sold them all, but I guess one went hiding on me, maybe waiting for the right customer to come along, eh?"

Tali nodded politely at this, but didn't comment.

"Well," the salarian continued, "Only a few of these were ever made, you see. It's quite the unique and exquisite item. The price is set at ten thousand credits.

The amount actually caused Tali to gasp. The music box had been perfect; it was elegant and beautiful and the music it played touched Tali's heart in the same way Shepard's words always seemed to, but as great as it was, she simply couldn't afford it.

"I'm sorry," she said as she carefully returned the trinket to the shelf. "I don't have that much. Thank you, anyway."

Now feeling worse than ever, Tali continued her trek out of the store. She had come so close to finding the perfect gift; she had even held it in her hands, but once again it was something she couldn't afford.

_I'm sorry, Shepard,_ she thought. _I tried._

She was nearly outside when the shop owner called out to her.

"Miss, wait," he said as he jogged over, music box cupped safely in his hands. "Exactly how far out of your price range are we talking?"

"By three thousand credits at least," she responded, not quite sure why the man cared.

"If it's not too personal, may I ask why you wanted this item?"

"It was going to be a gift for someone. . .very important to me. Why? What does it matter?"

For a moment the salarain only stared at her, almost like he was studying her. Just as Tali was starting to get really uncomfortable, the man nodded as if in conformation so some question never asked.

"I believe you," he said. "And when it comes to matters of the heart, Korleen does not stand in the way. Seven thousand credits it is. Follow me to the terminal and we'll get this set up."

"R-really? You would do that for me? I don't understand."

The shopkeeper, Korleen, tipped the girl a wink.

"Who knows. Maybe I feel like this music box was meant for you, maybe I'm a hopeless romantic, or maybe I'm just happy to make a sale. Pick whichever one suits you. Now, do we have a deal or not?"

"Oh, yes," Tali agreed, coming out of her stunned disbelief. "Yes, of course!"

Several minutes later Tali was walking out of the store with an empty credit account, but a beautiful token in hand.

The last time that she felt this good she had been standing in the Normandy's engine core with Shepard as he told her that he didn't want anyone else, he wanted her. With this gift, with this symbol of her love, she would be able to show him just how much he really meant to her, how she hung off of his every word, how every minute they spent together where the best of her life, how he was the single greatest thing that had ever happened to her.

Tali was lost in the middle of her bliss, ignorant to everything around her. She did not notice the man following her until she had turned down the ally, and by then it was too late.

She wasn't aware anything was wrong until a deep, bemused voice call out from behind her, telling her to stop where she was. Before she even had a moment to comprehend the sudden order, let alone comply, a pair of strong hands slammed down upon her shoulders, spinning her around so quickly that she nearly lost her grip on the music box.

Tali found herself being towered over by a turian nearly twice her size and three times her weight wearing a C-Sec uniform. His eyes were dark and piercing. When Tali looked into them she saw nothing but joyful cruelty.

"Where'd you get the toy, girl," the officer asked in his deep, flanging voice. "Steal it from a shop or did you just snatch it right out of someone's hands?"

Tali backed away a step, clutching the music box to her chest.

"No, I bought it," she insisted. "I have a receipt, I'll show y-"

Moving with an incredible speed for someone his size, the turian grabbed her by the right arm and spun her around as he twisted it behind her back. Less then a second later he was shoving her against one of the ally walls.

"I'm not interested in your lies, quarian. Your kind are all thieves. Hell, you're worse than vorcha. At least they're somewhat useful and have the common courtesy to die quickly."

The pain running up and down the length of her arm was intense, but she refused to give the man the satisfaction of screaming. She wasn't some helpless little girl. She could defend herself if she needed to, but first she had to try one last time to talk her way out of this, to make this man see reason.

"Officer, please. I swear I didn't-"

The turian increased the pressure on her arm, and this time she did scream. It felt like her bones were about to be pulled out of their sockets, and she had no doubt that this man would do just that if he wanted. The pain that shot through her felt like someone had taken a hot spike and jammed it right into the center of her brain. The sudden flare agony caused her to temporarily lose control of her body; her teeth clenched, her breath caught in her chest, and worst of all; her hands shot open.

On instinct she tried to save the falling ship, but her efforts only got her shoved against the wall hard enough her forehead the bounce off the inside of her helmet. With numb horror, Tali watched as the crystal music box that she had worked so hard to keep safe from the assault tumbled from her hand, spinning end over end before hitting the hard, metal ground and shattering. A tiny metal sphere, no bigger than a sugar cube, lay in the middle of the wreckage. From it, the soft and sad music Tali had instantly fallen in love with began to play.

"So that's theft, evading arrest, destruction of property," the turian raised one powerful foot and brought it down upon the black box. There was a terrible crunching sound as the music cut out. "And littering. Well, looks like you're quite the troublemaker, aren't y-"

"Let the girl go. _Now._"

At the same time, Tali and the C-Sec officer turned towards the sound of the newcomer who spoke in a commanding voice; one filled with true authority, not the false power-trip kind the turian had taken on. It was a voice that demanded respect, one that was filled with strength, and Tali knew exactly who it was before she even craned her neck over to look.

"And just who the fuck are you," the officer demanded.

"Commander Shepard. I already told you to let her go. You're not getting a another warning."

"Is that a threat? Good job, buddy. Now you and your little friend here are both under arrest. What do you have to say about that?"

A pistol shot rang out through the ally. In the same instant Tali heard the turian cry out and felt instant relief as her arm was let go. She turned around, terrified that she'd see the man lying dead on the floor. As incredibly grateful that she was that Shepard had saved her again, she didn't want someone killed because of it.

The turian as still standing; wounded but alive. He was holding the left side of his face in one hand while blood ran down his cheek.

"Agh! You bastard," he screamed. "You son of a bitch! I'll kill you for tha-"

Before he could even finish, Shepard was upon him; throwing him against the wall opposite of where Tali was being tortured. The officer opened his mouth, maybe to cry out in surprise, maybe to scream for help, but he never got the chance. The moment his mouth opened, Shepard shoved the barrel of his pistol into it.

"You better listen to me harder than you've ever listened before in your_ life_. I'm a Spectre, do you know what that means? That means I can paint this wall with your brains if I feel like it and no one will stop me. Lucky for you, I can be a real forgiving guy, so I'll tell you what; you apologize to this girl for your behavior and maybe I'll let you live."

Shepard pulled the gun out of the officer's mouth, but kept it at the ready.

"B-buddy, come on; she's just a quarian, why do you care?" The authority was gone from his voice now, replaced by the cowardice that was this man's true nature.

"Wrong answer," Shepard said, leveling his gun against the turian's temple.

"No! Wait! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me! Please, please, please! I don't wanna _diiiiiiie_!"

For a second, Tali thought the Commander was going to shoot anyway, but instead Shepard took a step back and motioned to one side with his gun.

"Get out of here," he ordered, and the turian was all too happy to comply. Halfway down the ally, he stumbled over his own feet. For several steps he continued to run using both his feet and hands like some kind of animal before getting back is balance and tearing out of the ally and out of sight.

Holstering his gun, Shepard stepped over to the girl. The fiery intensity she had seen upon his face had disappeared as quickly as if it had never existed. As he placed a gentle had upon her shoulder, his expression was filled with nothing but honest concern.

"Are you okay, Tali," he asked

"Yes. . .no. I. . .I don't know."

Moving slowly, feeling her she had suddenly aged by fifty years, Tali went down to her knees and began to pick up the pieces of the shattered music box. She had managed to get no more then a few shards before her body started to tremble. She dropped the crystal to the ground and covered her faceplate with her hands.

"He broke it," she sobbed. "I spent all day trying to find you the perfect gift and he. . .he just_ broke_ it!"

"Is that why you weren't on the Normandy when I got back," Shepard asked as he knelt down in front of here. "You were trying to get me a present?"

"I just. . .I just wanted to show you how much you meant me, Shepard. I wanted to get you something nice and-and. . ._bosh'tet_! Why would he do that?! It's not fair. It's just not fair."

"Tali, it's okay," he tried to reassure her, but in her frustrated rage, she would not listen.

"It's not, nothing is! You don't understand, Shepard! Everyone hates quarians! Everyone! They-they look at us like we're a _disease_! The rest of the galaxy doesn't even see us as people anymore! I've tried to be calm about it, I've tried to be accepting, but it's not getting any better, Sheaprd. Years of oppression and. . .it will never change. We'll always be looked down on, spit on,. . .hated."

"I don't hate you, Tali," Shepard said, his tone soft and sweet. "Neither does Joker, or Garrus, or anyone else on the Normandy. Tali, there are stupid, ignorant people out there and I'm sorry about that, but you can't let them get to you." Shepard placed a hand under her chin and forced her head up so that her eyes were looking into his. "You're a strong, incredibly woman, and if there are people out there who refuse to see that, then that's their problem, but _I_ know how amazing you are and_ I_ know how lucky I have to have someone like you."

He then leaned in close so that their faces were only a few inches apart.

"I love you, Tali'Zorah."

Shepard brought his fingers up to his lips, kissed them, and then caressed the side of her mask. Suddenly filled with the overpowering urdge to feel his body pressed as close to hers as she could possibly manage, Tali threw her arms around him and buried her face into his neck.

"Thank you, Shepard," she whispered. "I love you, too. So much, so very much."

For what felt like a long while, Shepard held her, slowly rocking her back and forth as he did until she had calmed and gained some control over herself once again.

"I'd like to go back to the ship now," she said, slowing letting go of her tight grip around his chest.

With a nod, Shepard stood up and helped Tali to her feet. Placing a wonderfully strong arm around her waist, Shepard and Tali began to make their way out of the ally.

Before they left, she spared one last look over her shoulder to where the music box lay in pieces. She felt incredible grief at the sight, not because of the money, but because of what she had intended that ship to symbolize. However, maybe it wasn't really such a loss after all. Maybe when it came to love, real love, you didn't need gifts, and cards, and jewelry, and presents to symbolize your emotions. Maybe it was really all about the things that you did; from the big actions like defending someone you cared about, to something as simple as an arm around the waist or a kiss on the fingertips.

Maybe, just _maybe_, the secret to this impossibly hard emotion called 'love' was that, in the end, it wasn't all that hard at all. If it was real, and if it was true, then the proof of your affection came though in every little action you did.

In an ally nestled inside the Citadel wards, a young quarian girl named Tali'Zorah vas Normany stops walking along side the man she's with long enough to bring her fingers up to where he mouth is hidden behind her mask. She makes a kissing sound against them, and then caresses the man's cheek.

**-cannedcream**

**April 10, 2010**


End file.
